Environmental Chemistry

Their research involves the fundamental study and applications of new ionization techniques for mass spectrometry (MS). The general objective is to devise new methodology for important analytical problems based on the sensitivity and selectivity of MS when combined with an appropriate ionization source.

Plasmonic enhancement of activity and selectivity of catalysts. The objective is to develop a new strategy based on the strong electromagnetic field generated by photon irradiation of controlled plasmonic nanostructures to enhance the activity or selectivity of metal (i.e. Au, Ag, Cu, Pt, and Pd) catalysts. This new approach could provide energy-efficient ways to control the activity and selectivity of heterogeneous catalysis and reduces the energy consumption in current industrial processes.

Interested in organic photochemistry, reactive intermediates, and sulfur chemistry. Photochemistry can be uniquely interesting from a mechanistic-organic or physical-organic perspective, because photochemical reactions allow study not only of starting materials and products, but quite often of the short-lived intermediates that we write to account for reactions. As a result, you can get a terrifically detailed picture of what is going on in a chemical reaction.

Research in the Kovnir lab are in the broad field of solid state and materials chemistry. Research in his group is focused on synthesis of novel thermoelectric, superconducting, magnetic, catalytic, and low-dimensional materials and exploring their crystal structure, chemical bonding, and physical properties. Understanding the structure-property relationship is a key to the rational design of such materials.

Their approach to total synthesis involves first the creation of generally-useful methodology for natural product subunits (such as quinones or lactones) which are common to a variety of natural products. This methodology is then applied to those compounds for which it is most appropriate. The development of methods for quinone synthesis has led to highly efficient and regioselective syntheses of pyranonaphthoquinones.

Recently they have become involved in developing sensitive devices for the detection of environmental contaminants, in particular for use in food safety and health applications. They have most recently developed, patented, and licensed a technology based on fluorescence detection for use in the real-time identification of contaminated meat products.

The Slowing group designs multifunctional nanostructured materials to build smart hybrid organic-inorganic devices. We synthesize nanoparticles with precise control of morphology and surface properties, and incorporate organic and inorganic groups at specific domains of the particles.

The group is interested in the fabrication, characterization and properties of novel hetero-structured nanomaterials. Our aim is to develop unique materials and composites that are useful in solving important problems in renewable energy (energy generation, conversion, and storage), catalysis, and biological imaging and tracking.

Modern theoretical and computational chemical science is a confluence of mathematics, physics, computer science, chemistry and sometimes biology. It is at the interface between these disciplines where many of the most exciting new developments in the field are being made. The scientific questions being asked demand much more from the theories, the computational algorithms and the scientist's chemical intuition than in previous years.

The research in the group spans an extensive spectrum of chemistry, ranging from organic synthesis of complex ligand systems to physical studies on the kinetics and thermodynamics of new reactions. In addition, they are interested in the synthesis and reactivity of novel coordination compounds and organometallic complexes. Their research is directed towards understanding fundamental transition metal behavior and reactivity in both biological systems and in new materials.